Privacy Policy

General

Australian Refugee and Migrant Care Services Limited ACN 613 060 325 (referred to in this document as we, us or our) recognises that your privacy is very important and we are committed to protecting the personal information we collect from you. The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) govern the way in which we must manage your personal information and this policy sets out how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise manage personal information about you.

Collection

Types of information collected

We may collect and hold personal information about you, that is, information that can identify you, and is relevant to providing you with the services you are seeking. In particular, we may collect:

(i) copies of the documents referred to in (h) above which may include your photograph;

(j) your date of birth;

(k) your occupation; and

(l) any other additional information about you which you provide to us directly, or through our third party representatives and agents.

We may also collect and hold sensitive information about you, including information about your health and medical history, religious beliefs or affiliations, racial or ethnic origin, criminal record, and sexual preferences or practices.

Purpose of collection

The personal information that we collect and hold about you, depends on your interaction with us. Generally, we will collect, use and hold your personal information if it is reasonably necessary for or directly related to the performance of our functions and activities and for the purposes of:

(a) providing services to you or someone else you know;

(b) providing you with information about other services that we, our related entities and other organisations that we have affiliations with, offer that may be of interest to you;

(c) facilitating our internal business operations, including the fulfilment of any legal requirements; and

(d) analysing our services and customer needs with a view to developing new or improved services.

Except as otherwise permitted by law, we only collect sensitive information about you if you consent to the collection of the information and if the information is reasonably necessary for the performance of our functions, as set out above.

Method of collection

Personal information will generally be collected directly from you through the use of any of our standard forms, over the internet, via email, face-to-face, or through a telephone conversation with you. There may, however, be some instances where personal information about you will be collected indirectly because it is unreasonable or impractical to collect personal information directly from you. We will usually notify you about these instances in advance, or where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable after the information has been collected.

We may also collect and hold sensitive information about you from third parties acting on your behalf or nominated by you, including your medical practitioner, other service providers, relatives, guardians or legal representative.

Failure to provide information

If the personal information you provide to us is incomplete or inaccurate, we may be unable to provide you, or someone else you know, with the services you, or they, are seeking.

Internet users

If you access our website, we may collect additional personal information about you in the form of your IP address and domain name.

Our website uses cookies. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and to prepare customised web pages for them. Cookies do not identify you personally, but they may link back to a database record about you. We use cookies to monitor usage of our website and to create a personal record of when you visit our website and what pages you view so that we may serve you more effectively.

Our website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked websites and linked websites are not subject to our privacy policies and procedures.

Use and disclosure

Generally, we only use or disclose personal information about you for the purposes for which it was collected (as set out above). We may disclose personal information about you to:

(a) service providers and other third parties who assist us in operating our business, and these service providers and third parties may not be required to comply with our privacy policy;

(b) our related entities and other organisations with whom we have affiliations so that those organisations may provide you with information about services and various promotions;

(d) government departments and providers, such as Medicare, Centrelink, the Department of Housing and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and

(e) any other organisation or person with your consent.

With your consent, we disclose sensitive information about you to third parties, including your medical practitioner, relatives, guardians or legal representative.

Disclosure of personal information overseas

We may disclose your personal information overseas to Australian Embassies and High Commissions in order to provide you with the services requested.

Security

We store your personal information in different ways, including in paper and in electronic form. The security of your personal information is important to us. We take all reasonable measures to ensure that your personal information is stored safely to protect it from interference, misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including electronic and physical security measures.

Access and correction

You may access the personal information we hold about you, upon making a written request. We will respond to your request within a reasonable period. We may charge you a reasonable fee for processing your request (but not for making the request for access).

We may decline a request for access to personal information in circumstances prescribed by the Privacy Act, and if we do, we will give you a written notice that sets out the reasons for the refusal (unless it would be unreasonable to provide those reasons).

If, upon receiving access to your personal information or at any other time, you believe the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, please notify us immediately. We will take reasonable steps to correct the information so that it is accurate, complete and up to date.

If we refuse to correct your personal information, we will give you a written notice that sets out our reasons for our refusal (unless it would be unreasonable to provide those reasons), including details of the mechanisms available to you to make a complaint.

Complaints and feedback

If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of the Privacy Act, the APPs or a privacy code that applies to us, please contact us using the details below and we will take reasonable steps to investigate the complaint and respond to you.

If you have any queries or concerns about our privacy policy or the way we handle your personal information, please contact our privacy officer at:

Postal address: PO Box 172, Arana Hills, Queensland 4054

Email address: claire.jones@armcare.org.au

Telephone: 07 3351 7243

Website: www.armcare.org.au

For more information about privacy in general, you can visit the Office of the Information Commissioner’s website at www.oaic.gov.au.

If you wish to make a complaint about the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information, please contact our privacy officer, and we will work with you to resolve the issue.

If after this process you are not satisfied with our response, you can submit a complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner. To lodge a complaint, visit the ‘Complaints’ section of the Information Commissioner’s website, located at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints, to obtain the relevant complaint forms, or contact the Information Commissioner’s office.